"Pieces of Me" has a very appropriate title. The book is literally in pieces. Each part is only several paragraphs long, separated by icons that indicate a break in the story. Through this, you get to know Mirabelle, the main character. She hates her name and goes by Mira instead, deciding it sounds more beautiful. She lives in a "half-basement" with her mom, who is slightly crazy. Her mom, somewhat of a fashion designer, is constantly paranoid that someone will steal her designs and insists that all the hot designs were created by her. Mira's father left them years ago and Mira has no real hope for anything in life. But then Cath shows up. Cath is different than all the other girls. She actually pays attention to Mira and shows an interest in art which is Mira's favorite subject. Throw that together with escalating tension between Mira and her mother, Mira's crush on her Art teacher (who she calls "the birdman"), and her first kissing experiment, and it is bound to be an interesting year.
I have had very mixed thoughts about this book. On one hand, the writing was excellent and I really felt for Mira on several occasions. However, the story progressed at an excruciatingly slow pace for the first sixty pages or so. After that, I was hooked. I stayed up late just to get further in the book. Yes, it was that good. I did not enjoy the fact that it would skip from one thing to another without giving a logical explanation of time or place. However, I found this to be manageable after several chapters. It makes for a very interesting read. The ending was not all that good, but still okay. I would probably recommend this to some people, but not to all. Some people would definitely not enjoy this because of the way the author writes, but I enjoyed this one.
There were numerous incidents of sexual behavior and references.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Westerville, Ohio USA
